The Truth About Using Cardboard in your Landscape 

I made a garden bed using cardboard directly on the grass & weeds, the 6 inches of compost manure blend on top. I am in central SC and weeds and grass are issues with the amount of rain we get. I planted right in it and had no issues. Every year or two, it's best to add and inch or so of much, but i was a bit lazy. I pull out the few random weeds that come up but other than that, it worked perfect. The cardboard broke down in about 6 to 9 months. The flower bed is still goinf strong and beautiful and packed with flowers years later!

I've been using cardboard for 3 years in my flower and conifers beds and i have and easy weeding job, It works great ! Thanks

Great! Thank you.

Thank you for this viedo. I was wondering about this very thing. Wish i would have known that sooner.

I used cardboard before I knew it was "a thing". My elderly neighbor hipped me to it. I place compost on top of the grass/weeds, cardboard, followed by a 4" - 6" layer of mulch. As for termites, I wouldn't sheet mulch if a bed is against my house. Termites got into a bed that was out by the road. They actually helped break down the cardboard faster! I thanked them! 😅😅😅

Really like the science and practical mix. Great balanced video. It's too late for me and the termites. Oh well, they were well fed😂 I put it in the bottom of my raised beds. I like how you addressed the ink question.

Great riff on one "ingredient"! Goes well with the "all peroxide" epidode. A good niche and hope to see more, if possible.

Great video thanks ! ❤

I’ve used cardboard in the garden for decades. Works very well, better on sandy soil than on heavy clay but worked well in both southern Ontario and Nova Scotia where it rains every few days. Breaks down in about a year in Nova Scotia because of the amount of rain. Hasn’t seemed to affect plant/shrub/tree health in any garden location. Place stones over cardboard as mulch because the constant strong winds here in Nova Scotia blow mulch away. Effective at reducing weeds which are plentiful here because of the winds and people don’t maintain their properties well at all.

I don't compost grass if its seedings. I did that once, had grass coming up in my compost and wherever I use my compost. Thing with some cardboard I found out that some won't completely compost down into soil. The cardboard that didn't compost completely became hard and nonbendable. I had to remove its from my compost container. None of the bug,worm, and organisms didn't want to touch it. Like pizza boxes that I compost ones. Composted completely down into soil in no time. Toilets paper rolls take longer to compost down,

Here comes my funny story 😁 I´m new to gardening and try my best to learn. So I live in pour soil conditions on top of a bare hill. Great view, wind and weeds 😀 I wanted to improve my soil and put some small mulch to desolve faster. Under it I put cardboard to supress the weeds. The wind blew away my mulch and the ugly cardboard appeared under. 😂 Now I´m taking it of and will put some heavy big piece mulch on top. Just a newbie problems...

Looks like you’ve had some issue with your leg. Hope all heals quickly. 🙏🏼 Mary, Decatur, AL

I just used cardboard today. We dug up sod/grass and then laid down cardboard. Added river rock on top of cardboard to hold it in place. We have 3 new bushes planted (2 years old) in the midst of this and left about one foot perimeter around each. It was hard to get around to mow so we are trying this. I hope it keeps the grass/weeds out of this area. Normally I use large black lawn bags but thought this was a cheaper method.

I use cardboard in multiple usage places. I have 3 types of compost piles that I turn about once a month. One with cardboard, mulched leaves and pinestraw placed on top of a hard layer of plastic. No watering except for nature. This has become my worm compost and makes great soil replenishment. The other 2 piles are of just leaves and grass clippings with soil that has no composition (came from holes I dug for burn pits 6 feet deep) the third is my "wet" compost from the yardwaste and kitchen scraps along with the coffee grounds. This is my amendment soil at the beginning of each year (I pick out the worms). Another use for cardboard is between the rows of my corn bed for weed suppression, this works great as long as I leave an 18 inch diameter of soil clear for the roots. I cover with just raked leaf mulch and water every 2 days. At the end of season I pick up cardboard and leave mulch. Cover with a tarp for the winter. I then take the rather worn down cardboard and place it in "Pile 1". I find many worms underneath and suspect that is where my worms come to "PIle 1". The last place I use cardboard is the walkways between my raised beds which i then also cover with weed cloth barrier and pin it down. About every 2 years I have to replace the cardboard but the weeds in my beds are absolutely only windborne and easy to maintain. Beds are 24 inches high.

Hi! I am renting a place with a small front yard. It is full of weeds and the grass is on its last leg. It takes a considerable amount of water to keep the little grass that's left green. Oh, and there is no sprinkler system! I am considering mulching the yard and strategically using a few drought-resistant plants to make it pretty (maybe some stepping stones too). I live in the central Utah desert. It is HOT, but we also get snow in the winter. Would you recommend using cardboard under the mulch as a solution for the next 2 years, or would you recommend I use the weed fabric instead? Thanks! Glad I found your channel! @Dr.Warren

I am wrong that the plastic tape used on most boxes, other the Amazon boxes, would become micro plastics over time. I also seem to remember that those micro plastics can eventually be take up and into the plant tissue. Am I wrong on this?

I wanted to use cardboard around my fire pit and leave the decorative rocks on top instead of soil or mulch. Is this better? Would the card board last longer? I live in Tampa, fl. Soil is dry like sand. Weeds especially these last couple of weeks of rain have gotten out of control. Weed killer that I have used in the past doesn't do the job. I have expensive thicker weed barrier there now with rocks on top. Drowning in weeds😁 Thank you!

Wìĺ nutrients from compost get through to plants? I am considering putting cardboard on an existing flowerbed of rugosa roses and lavender. I'm in victoria bc. Thank you

Well, dang. This year’s vegetable garden, first time ever with limited use of cardboard. I did create lots of fine perforations with a pitchfork and then covered with grass clippings. We’ll see how it goes but even this month’s issue of Mother Earth News has some warning about forever chemicals in some cardboard. Like I already said….DANG.

Can you use cardboard next to trees like Holles and Loquats on clay soil? Worried that my trees my get impacted by putting cardboard down next to them and my shrubs/yuccas. But I also want to kill the grass/weeds around them in the mulch beds

I have been happy using cardboard for many years. I understand one of the more recent concerns is with the glue used in making it. Do you have any research about the glue?

Cardboard is great but take off all the tape and labels to keep from putting microplastics out of your soil.

I heard that cardboard or plywood is also good for removing grubs from your garden/lawn.

The termite thing scares me. Would it hurt my scrubs and bushes if I sprayed Borax in the cardboard to deter the termites?

Oh, mam o man, I hope you don't get redbugs!